Friends, family and community residents gathered on Monday at a memorial site set up for five members of a family killed in a collision at the intersection of Balsam Avenue and Main Street in Hesperia.

Angelica Garcia-Garcia and her son Ivan Jimenez-Garcia, 2.

From left to right, Freddy Garcia-Garcia, mother Angelica Garcia-Garcia and Cindy Jimenez-Garcia

HESPERIA >> Cindy Jimenez, 4, was looking forward to seeing her favorite Disney princesses the day before her birthday on Monday.

Sunday was supposed to have been a day of joy and celebration for Cindy and her parents, Angelica Garcia-Garcia and Gerardo Jimenez, and her siblings Ivan Jimenez-Garcia, 2; and Freddy Garcia-Garcia, 9. Angelica’s birthday was on Friday.

But today their friends and family are in a state of mourning and deep shock after the family was killed in a collision on Sunday morning, at the corner of Balsam Avenue and Main Street in Hesperia.

The family was near the turn from Balsam to head west toward to the freeway when a van driven by an adult man heading east collided with their Honda sedan. Deputies found the van resting atop the sedan when they arrived at the scene.

More than a dozen members of the family were gathered Monday at the home of Angelica’s father Quirino. Among them was Freddy’s father Rolando Ramirez, 29. Ramirez remembers picking up his son on the weekend and watching wrestling. Freddy was a fan of wrestling. His younger brother Ivan loved cowboys. His cowboy boots were resting over a window in the living room of the Garcia home.

“What can I say about my son?” said Ramirez of Freddy. “He was my everything. It’s like something taken away from me … Sometimes you think, it’s going to be the other way around. As I get older. I think he’ll bury me. I have to bury him at a young age.”

The family was living in Quirino Garcia’s home. He considered his grandchildren as his own children.

“Oh God, my heart feels that my children are still with me; that they’re not dead,” Quirino Garcia said. “Going into my house, I go into their rooms and they’re not there. I wait, but I don’t see them. My kids are gone, and God has them in heaven.”

Garcia said he was very close to Angelica, his eldest daughter.

“She was the oldest, but it seems like she was the youngest,” Garcia said. “She was the most spoiled.”

A memorial with candles, flowers and balloons was set up on the northeast corner of Balsam and Main, where community residents came to pay respects. Among the visitors was Irene Salazar, who lives nearby.

“It hit home,” Salazar said. “I have three kids of my own, and I can’t imagine losing a family like that. What they were going through at the moment. It’s really heartbreaking.”

Alfredo Trejo, a pastor in Victorville who lives in Hesperia, was also visiting the memorial at the crash site.

“What I heard from family members was they were going to celebrate the mom’s birthday and the little girl’s birthday was going to be today, so there were going to celebrate two birthdays plus the Mother’s Day,” Trejo said. “This is really tragic, just knowing what they were supposed to do yesterday.”

The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s County Coroner’s Office had not yet released the names of the deceased on Monday, pending their investigation.

The family has yet to make funeral arrangements.

Those wishing to help the Garcia family with funeral expenses can visit any Bank of America and donate money under the care of Rolando Ramirez, under the account 325033494630.

Neil Nisperos has been a reporter covering everything from business to education, courts, politics, city government, features, arts and entertainment since 1999. On social media, he has a combined following of about 25,300 people over various apps and platforms. He's passionate about the cinema, science, philosophy, poetry, art, photography, culture, literature and history. He feels fortunate to be in the profession that keeps power in check, memorializes people's stories for posterity and helps people with useful information.

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